1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving device and a method for driving a load member, in which a magnetostrictive actuator drives the load member.
2. Description of Related Art
An audio output device is known in which a magnetostrictive actuator drives a diaphragm to get any audio outputs (see Japanese Patent Application Publications Nos. H10-145892 and H04-313999).
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of such an audio output device 300. The audio output device 300 has a player 301, an amplifier 302, a magnetostrictive actuator 303, and a diaphragm 304.
The player 301 reproduces any medium such as compact disc (CD), mini disc (MD), and digital versatile disc (DVD) to output an audio signal. The amplifier 302 receives the audio signal from the player 301 and amplifies it. The amplifier 302 supplies the magnetostrictive actuator 303 with the amplified audio signal. The magnetostrictive actuator 303 has a driving rod 303a for transmitting a displacement output therefrom to the diaphragm 304 to which a front end of the driving rod 303a is attached.
The magnetostrictive actuator 303 drives the diaphragm 304 based on the audio signal. That is, the driving rod 303a of the magnetostrictive actuator 303 reciprocates to vibrate the diaphragm 304 conforming to any wave forms of the audio signal. This allows the diaphragm 304 to emit an audio output corresponding to the audio signal.